and will include a 198,250-square-foot building that with a warehouse retail store, tire center and a distribution center, the company’s first in the Midwest, according to a city document. A free-standing fuel facility is also planned.
“The opening of the interchange and what the city staff and council did nine years ago to put a planned unit development in place set the stage for what is happening today and what will continue to happen over the next several years,” said David Jones, Ankeny’s city manager.
Earlier this year, Ankeny’s City Council and Plan and Zoning Commission approved the Spectrum 36 Neighborhood Plan, a 125-acre area east of Interstate 35 and north of Northeast 36th Street in which Costco is planned.
The neighborhood plan created 15 buildable lots for commercial and multifamily developments. Streets, sidewalks and sewer and water mains must be extended into the area.
City officials were told that the property would be farmed during the summer and that site work would likely begin in this fall. In its application to gain approval for the neighborhood plan, a representative of the land owners — Threshold Capital –- wrote that “Spectrum 36 will provide opportunities for big box commercial.”
Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Costco was locating in the new development. Jones said city officials often get requests from residents for new retailers. “Costco is a popular one,” he said.
Costco, headquartered in Issaquah, Wash., is one of the few retailers opening new brick-and-mortar stores across the country. This year it is or has opened warehouses in Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Minnesota, Indiana and Quebec, Canada. The company has more than 550 warehouses in the U.S., including one in West Des Moines, according to its annual report.
A company spokesperson declined to comment about development plans in Ankeny.
Jones said the Spectrum 36 retail development “is a nice addition to our retail infrastructure. We have the Delaware [Avenue] corridor, Prairie Trail, Highway 69 and other emerging neighborhood opportunities.
“This project could become a popular retail destination in Ankeny.”
Jones said construction of the Costco warehouse likely will begin the first half of 2022. The site plan must be approved by the City Council. In addition, infrastructure improvements must occur on the site before construction begins, he said.
